Synthesis of multifunctional Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-Ag nanocomposite for antibacterial and anticancer drug delivery

Incorporating Ag nanoparticles at core–shell Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ provides promising opportunities for biomedical applications. Here, Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-Ag nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized using seed-mediated growth methods. Based on the results, the as-prepared composite nanoparticles have good crystallinity and a core–shell structure. It was also revealed that the nanocomposites exhibited a superparamagnetic property with a magnetic saturation value ​​of 36.42 emu/g and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption at 370 nm. Furthermore, the result also demonstrated that the as-prepared Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-Ag showed an potential inhibition activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with an inhibition zone of about 8–10 mm. In addition, an in-vitro MTS assay also revealed that epirubicin (EPI)-loaded Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-Ag nanoparticles has cytotoxic properties against HeLa cells. This indicates that the as-prepared Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-Ag nanoparticles could potentially be used as both an antibacterial agent and an anticancer drug carrier.